


Lake Tale

by Prosaic



Category: Princess Tutu
Genre: Crack-ish, Gen, Poor abused OC, Post-Series, Shippy if you Squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-03
Updated: 2012-09-03
Packaged: 2017-11-13 11:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/502872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prosaic/pseuds/Prosaic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A newcomer is a bit skeptical about the things he's heard about the lake in Gold Crown town.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lake Tale

**Author's Note:**

> Completed in 2008. Very old, really, and silly to boot. This was written for a friend of mine.

There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with the lake. It was a perfectly good lake by all accounts. 

 

Cool water to glide through, quite a bit of worms, bugs, and frogs to eat; although, notably, not the abundance that other lakes provided. The problem seemed to lay in the fact that despite the small fish, or a fellow winged beings here and there, it was lacking in…something. 

 

Company? Well, there certainly were little colonies of creatures that toddled about, that’s not what puzzled him. It just seemed that at a certain point they would all escape to their respective hideaways. 

 

Whispers were heard about old, creaking oak trees whose leaves rustling would hypnotize even man into standing, pondering his existence until fading into nothing. 

Or tales of mournful cries in the night, often accompanied by those huge, dark birds who’s eyes blazed a startling crimson that everyone so feared. 

Stories of a horse’s disembodied gallop, it’s rider tearing through the forest, challenging anything that comes across its path to a lethal duel, leaving the victim battered and defeated. (Or worse.)

Rumors of thick fog that spread like clouds over a lake, the water turning a dull, inky gray, that would drain you of your happiness, and pull you in down down down down down, where no one could ever reach you again.

 

Such was the rumor of a lake, which was widely assumed to be _this_ lake, but that was just tittle-tattle gathered from humans whom always seemed to try and come up with new reasons to be afraid of everything. 

 

So it was bewildering why such stories were believed. After all, what did most humans know of nature? They had severed their ties with it ages ago, but declared themselves experts on the unexplainable events that occurred within it. Honestly, happiness sapping lakes? Monster ravens? Ghost knights? 

 

So why did all the animals flee? Why did they heed the human legends? Why was he virtually alone?

 

Oh. 

He wasn’t.

There was another with him. He hadn’t noticed until the sun had hit the reeds jutting out from the lake’s edge.

 

For a moment, he assumed it to be a swan, with its bright white feathers that nearly glowed against the water’s mirrored surface. But after a second look it reviled to be a duck. A duck that glided over the water with a slight dip to its movements, in a queer imitation of bowing. A duck that, even from his place several feet from it, he could tell had the largest and most expressive eyes he’d ever seen. They almost sparkled. 

 

Although relatively new to the area, he knew there weren’t many ducks on this lake. He’s been told of one, but it couldn’t be this duck. What he’d heard of was a small, bright yellow little scrap of a thing that was known to consort with humans on a regular basis. He had assumed he’d be the only one. 

 

It was a moment or two before the other bird turned its head in his direction. The large, shining eyes fixed on him with curiosity and bewilderment. He could see now that it was female. 

Well, that certainly changed the situation, didn’t it? He hadn’t seen a female in the weeks he’d been traveling. Judging by the plumage, they both appeared to be of the same breed. 

 

He had begun to make his way towards her--paddling swiftly--when there was a rustle of leaves, and figure stepped into the clearing. 

 

Its shape resembled a human, but a long cloak covered the upper half of its body. (Odd, it was relatively warm out.) The strangely garbed-possible human was swiftly making its way to the lakeshore, a large flat pad grasped in its hands. The female swiveled her head at its approach, her eyes lighting even brighter, and she let out a cheerful call.

It paused at the dock, glancing at the small avian, before sweeping a slow gaze over the lake's surroundings. 

It stilled, noticing him for the first time. 

He froze at the look, not daring to move. He could feel the air going cold around him, his breath being sucked from his lungs. A sinking dread settling in him while his heart fluttered uncomfortably in his breast. 

The eyes that meet his own were a dark, menacing green. They were piercing him, boring through to his very core. He could hear the violent, powerful message they held echoing loudly in his mind. 

 

_Do it, and die._

He trembled. 

During the silent exchange, the other bird was hurriedly paddling to the dock, wings flapping with excitement. She hopped up onto the wood at the figure’s feet, quacking a greeting.

 

At that moment he turned and began to swim hastily in the opposite direction. It wasn’t worth it, not if it meant being murdered by the frightening shadowed being. He could swear he saw the glint of a sword at its side.

 

Perhaps some of the human’s legends weren’t so ridiculous after all.


End file.
